334 PROVERBS. 



have, as a rule, some satirical meaning: "Old as Herod ; " "Homer sometimes 

 nods ;" " Hippocrates says yes, and Galen says no." 



But a better idea can be formed of the tendency of the French proverbs 

 which were current in the Middle Ages, and which held their own almost 

 intact until the middle of the sixteenth century, by quoting a few of them 

 which, with slight alterations in spelling, are still in use : 



" A beau parleur closes oreilles. 

 A chacun oiseau son nid lui est beau. 

 A dur ane dur aguillon. 



Aide-toi, Dieu te aidera (God helps those who help themselves). 

 Amis valent mieux que argent. 



A Dieu, a pere et a mattre, nul ne pent rendre equivalent. 

 Au besoin voit-on 1'ami (A friend in need is a friend indeed). 

 Besoin fait vieille trotter. 

 Bon cceur ne peut mentir. 

 Bienfaict n'est jamais perdu. 

 Bonne vie embellit. 



Borgne est roy entre aveugles (Amongst the blind the one-eyed man is king). 

 Gain de cordonnier entre' par 1'huis et ist (sort) par le fumier. 

 Ce n'est pas or tout ce qui luit (All is not gold that glitters). 

 Celuy scjait assez qui vit bien. 

 De brebis comptees mange bien le loup. 

 De nouveau tout est beau. 

 Diligence passe science. 

 La faim chasse le loup hors bois. 

 La nuit porte conseil. 



La plus mechante roue du char crie toujours. 

 Les petits sont sujets aux lois, les grands en font a leur guise. 

 L'eau dormant vault pis que 1'eau courant (Still waters run deep). 

 Tout vray n'est pas bon a dire (The truth is not always welcome). 

 Trop parler nuit, trop grater cuit. 



Vin vieux, ami vieux et or vieux sont aimes en tons lieux (Old wine, old friends, and old gold 

 are always appreciated)." 



There can be no doubt that proverbs were at one time much used in 

 common parlance, and this must have lent an originality and a piquancy to 

 conversation. The proverb, which represented, so to speak, general opinion, 

 was perpetually recurring in conversation, which was animated by being thus 

 impregnated with the personal thought of the speaker. Most of the proverbs 

 originated with the people, but they were used by the nobles and the bourgeois, 

 and they soon passed from conversation into writing, and were quoted by the 

 greatest authors. 



Thus in the thirteenth century many sermons and many pieces of poetry 



